Infection Prevention in UK Hospitals: The Role of the Registered Nurse

Introduction

Hospital infections are still a real problem in the NHS, even though infection prevention and control has been a priority for many years. Recent figures from the UK Health Security Agency show that in 2023 around 7.6% of hospital patients in England had a healthcare-associated infection, which is about one percentage point higher than the last national survey in 2016 (UKHSA, 2025). These infections can lead to longer stays, extra costs for the NHS and, in some cases, avoidable deaths.

Registered nurses are in a key position because they are at the bedside throughout the day and often notice changes in patients before anyone else. This essay looks at how nurses contribute to infection prevention in UK hospitals, focusing on hand hygiene, standard infection control precautions, aseptic technique and patient education. It argues that consistent, everyday nursing practice has as much impact on infection prevention as any policy or campaign.

Why infection prevention still matters in UK hospitals

Official guidance from NHS England makes it clear that infection prevention and control is a core patient safety issue, not just an add-on to normal care (NHS England, 2025). Healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) include well-known problems such as MRSA and Clostridioides difficile, as well as Gram-negative bacteraemia like E. coli. In 2023–24, more than 42,000 cases of E. coli bacteraemia were reported in NHS acute trusts in England, an increase of almost 9% compared with the previous year (UKHSA, 2025).

These numbers show that infection prevention in UK hospitals is not just about COVID-19 or the occasional outbreak on the news. It is part of everyday nursing work on medical, surgical and specialist wards. For nurses, this means following evidence-based standards even when the ward is busy, when staffing feels tight, and when patients and visitors may not fully understand the reasons behind infection control rules.

Hand hygiene: small action, big impact

Hand hygiene is usually the first thing mentioned in infection prevention teaching, but it is still easy to get wrong in practice. The World Health Organization estimates that effective infection prevention and control programmes, including good hand hygiene, can reduce healthcare-associated infections by 35–70% and are highly cost-saving (WHO, 2023). For a nurse on a UK hospital ward, this translates into very simple but frequent actions: using alcohol gel or soap and water at the right moments, and not cutting corners when tired or under pressure.

NICE quality standard QS61 and the NHS national infection prevention and control manual both stress that hand hygiene must be carried out before and after patient contact, before clean or aseptic procedures, after exposure to body fluids and after touching the patient environment (NICE, 2014; NHS England, 2025). In real terms, this can mean cleaning hands dozens of times in a single shift. Nurses also have to think about practical details such as keeping nails short, avoiding false nails and removing rings or bracelets that make proper cleaning difficult.

When nurses follow these standards consistently, they help to break the chain of infection between patients, staff and visitors. On the other hand, one missed hand-hygiene moment between two vulnerable patients can be all it takes for an organism like MRSA or C. difficile to spread on the ward.

Standard infection control precautions and PPE

Standard infection control precautions (SICPs) are a set of basic measures that should be used for every patient, regardless of diagnosis (NHS England, 2025). For nurses in UK hospitals, this includes correct use of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves, aprons, masks and eye protection when there is a risk of contact with blood, body fluids or respiratory droplets.

The nurse’s role is not simply to put on as much PPE as possible, but to carry out a quick risk assessment for each task. For example, personal care for a patient with diarrhoea will usually require gloves and an apron, while wound irrigation might also need eye protection. Once the task is finished, PPE must be removed safely and disposed of in the correct waste stream, followed by thorough hand hygiene.

If PPE is used incorrectly, such as wearing the same gloves between patients, or leaving an apron on while moving around the bay, it can actually increase the risk of infection. Nurses therefore need up-to-date training, clear ward policies and the confidence to remind colleagues when practice slips. This is part of building a culture where infection prevention in UK hospitals is seen as everyone’s responsibility, not just the infection control team’s.

Aseptic technique and invasive devices

Many hospital infections are linked to invasive devices such as urinary catheters, peripheral cannulas or central lines. NICE guidance on healthcare-associated infections stresses the importance of proper insertion, maintenance and early removal of these devices to reduce infection risk (NICE, 2014).

Nurses are heavily involved in this area, particularly through aseptic non-touch technique (ANTT). On a typical ward this might involve setting up a clean trolley, opening sterile packs carefully, identifying “key parts” such as the tip of a cannula or the end of an IV line, and making sure these are never touched by anything non-sterile. The nurse also needs to check for early signs of infection, for example, redness, warmth, pain or discharge at a cannula site – and report concerns promptly so that a doctor can review the line and prescribe treatment if needed.

Good documentation is another practical part of infection prevention. Recording when a catheter or cannula was inserted, by whom, and when it should be reviewed helps to avoid devices staying in longer than necessary. Even small improvements here can make a big difference to infection rates in a hospital over time.

Education, role-modelling and patient safety

Finally, nurses contribute to infection prevention not only through their own practice but also through education and role-modelling. Patients and families may be unsure why they are being asked to wash their hands more often, wear masks, or stay in isolation when they feel well. A clear explanation from the nurse can reduce anxiety and improve cooperation with infection control measures.

Senior nurses, link nurses for infection control and ward managers often lead on audits, training and feedback. They help to interpret national guidance from NHS England and NICE and translate it into local routines that make sense to staff (NHS England, 2025; NICE, 2014). When nurses challenge poor practice in a calm and respectful way, for example, reminding a colleague to gel their hands, they reinforce the message that infection prevention is a normal part of professional behaviour, not an optional extra.

Short summary of the argument

In summary, registered nurses play a central role in infection prevention in UK hospitals. They put national policies into practice at the bedside through consistent hand hygiene, correct use of PPE, safe aseptic technique and clear communication with patients and families. By doing so, they help to reduce the burden of healthcare-associated infections and support safer outcomes for patients across the NHS.

Reference list for this sample (Harvard style)

• NHS England (2025) National infection prevention and control manual for England [Online]. Available at: NHS England website.

• NHS England (2025) Healthcare-associated infections [Online]. Available at: NHS England website.

• National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) (2014) Infection prevention and control – Quality standard QS61 [Online]. Available at: NICE website.

• UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) (2025) UKHSA publishes latest survey on healthcare-associated infections [Online]. Available at: GOV.UK.

• UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) (2025) Annual epidemiological commentary: Gram-negative, MRSA, MSSA bacteraemia and C. difficile infections, financial year 2023 to 2024 [Online]. Available at: GOV.UK.

• World Health Organization (WHO) (2023) Key facts and figures: infection prevention and control and hand hygiene [Online]. Available at: WHO website.